Stewart Murray Wilson

Stewart Murray Wilson
Born	(1946-12-11) 11 December 1946
Nationality	New Zealand
Other names	Known as the Beast of Blenheim
Known for	Sexual offending & being paroled to Wanganui

Stewart Murray Wilson comes from Blenheim, New Zealand and has a history of serious sexual offending including offences against children. He served 18 years in prison and then had the most stringent release conditions of anyone ever released from prison in New Zealand imposed by the Parole Board. The decision to release him to a house on the grounds of the Wanganui prison caused an uproar among local citizens.

Background

Wilson was born 11 December 1946. His parents were both alcoholics and he had a deprived background with little educational opportunities. As a teenager he was hospitalised for long periods in psychiatric institutions where he was diagnosed with a personality disorder. He first appeared in court on burglary charges. Prior to the 1990s he also had convictions for assault on females, living off the earnings of a prostitute, and assault on a child.

In 1996 Wilson was convicted on a raft of sex offences involving 16 female victims over 23 years. The charges included rape, bestiality, stupefying, ill-treatment of children and indecent assault. He was found guilty on all but two of 25 charges, and sentenced to 21 years in prison. One of the offences was the rape of his 13 or 14 year-old step-daughter in front of her mother. One of the indecent assaults was of a girl under the age of 16. The judge said that he would have given a sentence of preventive detention, except that this option was not available at the time for the particular offences that Wilson committed.

Lack of rehabilitation in prison

For many years Wilson was held in Rolleston Prison which contains prisoners assessed as being of minimal risk to the public - which is in stark contrast to the Parole Board's view of him and the way he has been portrayed in the media. Rolleston prison also has a sex offenders unit which delivers group-based treatment to child sex offenders. The Department refused to put him into this programme because he wouldn't admit to a psychologist that he was guilty - although the Department's entry criteria for its sex offenders' programme states that "denial or other cognitive distortions related to offending behaviour" is an indication of suitability for the programme.

Despite repeated appearances before the New Zealand Parole Board since September 2006 Wilson was not released because he denied responsibility for his offending, appeared to have no remorse, had not engaged in any treatment and was assessed at high risk of reoffending. However, speaking via video link to the High Court at Wellington in June 2012, Wilson complained, not for the first time, that he had been denied any treatment since being sentenced in 1996. He said he had even been denied one-on-one counselling with a psychologist because he would not admit he was guilty and complained he has had only four hours one-on-one counselling in the 18 years he has been in prison. Wilson said he had also offered to do the STOP programme to treat sex offenders, but was not permitted to do so. At a hearing in 2011 the Board acknowledged that the only counselling Mr Wilson had done was a few sessions with an ACC-funded counsellor.

Public hysteria at his release

Prior to his impending release in September 2012, Wilson appeared before the Parole Board at least five times. Each application for early release has been denied. After 18 years in prison and now aged 65, he is due to be released on his statutory release date of 1 September 2012.

Prior to establishing his current release conditions, the parole board was told by clinical psychologist, Jane Freeman-Brown, that Wilson was still at high risk of reoffending. She made this assessment without interviewing him, relying instead on information from his prison file file. Nevertheless, the Parole Board imposed 17 release conditions, said to be the toughest conditions ever imposed on anyone released from prison in New Zealand. The first of those conditions requires Wilson to live in a state house which was to be shifted onto the grounds of Wanganui Prison especially for him. Another condition was for him to wear a GPS tracking device - the first prisoner ever to be fitted with one.

In almost every story in the New Zealand media about Stewart Murray Wilson, it says he's been 'dubbed the Beast of Blenheim'. Columnist Rosemary McLeod notes that the media generally cannot get away with insulting terminology but says nobody seems to be protesting at Wilson being dubbed in this way. Jim Hopkins, a columnist noted for his humorous writing style said: "We're never told who did the dubbery, but it is exceedingly kind of the media to advise us that it's happened". According to Hopkins: "Dubbing tells we're allowed to loathe the person concerned with a clear conscience and that we needn't restrain our abhorrence in any way."

The decision to send Murray Wilson, aka the 'Beast of Blenheim', to Wanganui caused an outcry from local citizens led by the former mayor and controversial broadcaster, Michael Laws. The Wanganui District Council even filed proceedings with the High Court to try and prevent him being sent to Wanganui. Victoria University Professor, Tony Ward, a clinical psychologist with expertise in sexual offenders, said it was irresponsible for local body politicians to ramp up public fear of Murray Wilson. He said that given Mr Wilson's age he was unlikely to reoffend as "The reoffending rate for very high risk people over 60 is about six per cent." Professor Ward said the best way to rehabilitate sex offenders was to keep them in the midst of other people - where they could be watched - and give them support.